Thursday, September 29, 2011

A Hanging Offense in Iran

A CNS News article reports that Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has been convicted of "apostasy," and faces the gallows unless he renounces Christianity. The White House, Christian organizations, human rights groups and governments have called for his release, fearing that he could be executed within a few days.

Last July State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland issued a statement on the case expressing dismay over reports that Nadarkhani had been given the choice of renouncing his faith or being hanged.

“If carried out, it would be the first execution for apostasy in Iran since 1990,” she said.

“He is just one of thousands who face persecution for their religious beliefs in Iran, including the seven leaders of the Baha’i community whose imprisonment was increased to 20 years for practicing their faith and hundreds of Sufis who have been flogged in public because of their beliefs,” Nuland said. “While Iran’s leaders hypocritically claim to promote tolerance, they continue to detain, imprison, harass, and abuse those who simply wish to worship the faith of their choosing....”

Charles Sakai, aka "Bloodthirsty Warmonger"

Visit to Hawaii, 1988 (Pearl Harbor in background) This is a showcase and forum for my passions. The alias "Doc Adler" appears after each posting to bring attention to my other, psychological blog, "Up and Down Time" I plow through a large volume of news sources so that you don't have to.... We make no apologies for our unabashedly conservative bias, as our readers are looking for an antidote to the liberal bias of larger news outlets. We are almost unique in our commitment to cover not only politics and current events, but also the latest in toilet technology, and in championing the cause of homeless people and the mentally ill. To see my profile on Mormon.org, see http://mormon.org/me/2R75-eng/Charles